That's What Friends Are For
by stargazer0607
Summary: When Harry comes down with a cold during his first year at Hogwarts, he finds out the meaning of friendship.


Summary: When Harry comes down with a cold during his first year at Hogwarts, he finds out the meaning of friendship.

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em. Wish I did.

* * *

The first year Gryffindor boy's dorm room was empty. It looked like a tornado had just touched down in it. All the beds were unmade, blankets were thrown about the beds, and clothes were strewn throughout. It was Saturday. Yells and cheering could be heard coming from the courtyard of Hogwarts, for the first winter snow had just begun to fall.

Outside, Ron bent down to the ground and grabbed a handful of the cold white fluff. He rolled it between his mitten covered hands until it formed a ball. He put his hand with the snowball behind his back and started searching the grounds for Harry.

Harry and Hermione were on the other side of the courtyard building a snowman, complete with a wizard hat and wand. Ron spotted Harry scrunched down at the base of the snowman, and headed towards him. Ron was hoping to sneak up on Harry, but the snow crunching beneath his shoes as he walked, gave him away.

Harry, hearing the sound, looked over to Ron who was heading his way. "Hi Ron. Hermione and I are finishing up our snowman. Want to join us?" Harry stood up and turned away to add the snow in his hand to the middle section of the snowman.

While Harry wasn't looking, Ron brought his hand with the snowball out in front and rolled it a little more with a sly grin. "Sure Harry."

Harry started to turn to face Ron but before he could complete the move, Ron threw the snowball at him.

"Hey! What was that for?" Harry stood up and started brushing the snow off his worn, thin, jacket; a hand-me-down from his cousin Dudley.

"It's the first snowfall of winter and you're supposed to throw snowballs at your friends. It's a Hogwarts rule."

Harry looked at Ron with an unconvincing eye. "I've never heard that rule before."

Ron started going into his made up rule and wasn't paying attention to Harry. Harry was now making a snowball of his own with some of the snow from the snowman. Harry cut Ron off from his rambling. "Hey Ron!" Ron stopped his story and looked toward Harry as a snowball was soaring right for him.

That was the start of the snowball fight. About an hour later, Harry, Ron and Hermione, shivering and cold from the snow and dripping wet, headed back up to their dorm rooms to change in to dry clothes.

******

While sitting at the Gryffindor table at lunch sipping his pumpkin juice, Harry felt a shiver go through him. He put his cup down, pulled his robes tightly around his chest, and helped himself to more of the chicken pot pie. "So Ron, what do you want to do the rest of the afternoon?"

At the sound of the Great Hall door closing, Ron looked over to it and saw Oliver Wood walking towards Harry and himself. "I don't think it matters to you what I want to do," Ron said, trying not to spit food out of his mouth. "I think you're going to be a little busy." He swallowed his food and pointed towards Wood who was now almost running to them.

Harry looked to the direction Ron was pointing. "Great," he said, irritated at seeing Oliver. "Can't I go one weekend without seeing him?" Harry loved quidditch, but he was looking forward to at least one weekend without any practices. Harry wiped his hands on his napkin and rubbed his nose. "Hi Wood. Something wrong?"

Oliver approached them, said a quick hi to Ron and Hermione and turned to face Harry. He had a determined look in his eyes and seemed a little excited. "I've got some good news. There's been a change in the Slytherin line-up. There will be a new seeker in our next game."

Upon hearing this, Harry looked to Ron, who had been listening to the conversation, smiled, and looked back to Wood. "That means we can definitely win the game and the quidditch cup without any extra effort."

Wood held up his hand to stop Harry from going on. "Not so fast, their replacement is just as good. I've seen her play. She has some new moves and strategies so you'll have to be more alert and attentive."

"That will be no problem. If you've seen her play before you can give me some pointers at our Monday practice."

"Sorry Potter. I think we need to squeeze in another practice or two."

Harry looked to Ron who gave Harry an "I told you so" look.

Wood started to walk away from them. "See you out in the field in 45 minutes Harry."

Harry stood up from the table. "But Oliver, it's snowing outside," he said looking up to the ceiling of the Great Hall. The sky was a dark grey, almost black, and there were puffs of lighter grey clouds. Snow was falling from the clouds almost completely horizontal. "And, it looks a little windy."

Wood looked up to the ceiling and back down to Harry. "So put on another layer of clothes under your uniform and charm your broom to make it heavier." He turned back towards the doors and started to leave. As he went past the doors he yelled, "45 minutes Potter. Don't be late." As he walked out of sight, Harry returned to the table and sat down with a sigh.

Ron looked at him. "Well at least you don't have to think about what you're going to do this afternoon." He looked to Hermione, "So, what do you have planned for this afternoon?"

While listening to Ron and Hermione discuss their afternoon plans, Harry began to feel a slight tickle in his nose. Trying to ignore the tickle, he reached for the bowl of pudding and served himself a little. He put the serving spoon back in the bowl and rubbed his nose, as the tickling became more intense. Sensing that the tickle was turning into a sneeze, he cupped his hand over his mouth and nose, turned away from the table, and tried to stifle the sneeze. "Cchhhuh."

Both Ron and Hermione stopped their discussion and looked at Harry. "Bless you."

Hermione scooted over so that she was sitting across from Harry. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Harry rubbed his nose vigorously, trying to rid the tickle, and then started eating his pudding. "I guess I just got some snow up my nose when we were having our snowball fight."

Ron piped in. "Good. You better not be getting sick. Maybe you should go see Madam Pomphrey and get some pepper-up potion just in case."

"I'm not. Don't worry." Swallowing his last spoonful of pudding, Harry got up to change for his quidditch practice. "Well, I guess I'll see you two at dinner. Have a fun afternoon."

Ron leaned to Harry and quietly whispered, "Oh yeah. Reading in the library with Hermione, fun." He looked to Hermione, "Ready to head to the library? See you tonight Harry. Don't get too wet."

Laughing as he left the Great Hall, Harry headed to the dormitory to put on some warmer clothes for practice.

*****

Practice had gone as well as it could have. The snow had quit falling but had turned to rain instead and the wind did not die down. Harry had a hard time trying to follow the snitch while keeping his glasses clear and trying not to be knocked off his broom from the wind. He wished he knew how to cast some of the charms Wood talked about earlier while in the Great Hall.

After changing out of his uniform in the locker room, Harry grabbed his broom and headed back to the Gryffindor tower, getting drenched in the process. He desperately wanted to change out of his cold wet clothes.

Upon entering the Gryffindor common room, Harry found Ron and Hermione sitting in front of the roaring fire. Ron was teaching Hermione how to play wizards chess. He walked over to them and said he'd be down in a few minutes, that he wanted to take a shower and change. He slowly made his way up the stairs to his dorm room and put away his broom. On his way to the showers he felt the urge to sneeze. He cupped his hand over his nose and mouth and came to a stop. "Hachoo!" Thinking nothing of the sneeze, Harry continued to the shower.

Not realizing how cold and achy he was, Harry ended up staying in the shower for 20 minutes. He was hoping the hot water would have also relieved the pounding in his head, but it didn't.

After getting dressed, he headed back down to the common room to join Hermione and Ron. He found them still playing chess. Ron was obviously winning since Hermione's pieces were all broken and laying at the side of the board. He walked over to the squashy armchair next to Hermione and took a seat to watch the rest of the game. He would have rather sat next to Ron so he wouldn't get hit with flying chess pieces, but he was still a little cold and wanted to sit as close to the fire as he could so he could warm up.

Since Ron was busy deciding on his next move, Hermione turned to face Harry. "So, how was practice? Did you learn anything new about the Slytherin seeker?"

"Practice was alright." Harry rubbed his nose and sniffed. "It was a little wet and cold. Pamela, their seeker, has a few tricks, but I can handle them."

Hearing crashing coming from the chess board, Harry and Hermione turned toward the board. "Sorry Hermione." Ron was grinning from ear to ear. "Checkmate. I win."

Relieved that the game was over, Hermione got up from the table. "Great. That means we can go eat dinner."

The three headed down to the Great Hall for dinner. Harry and Ron sat next to each other with Hermione sitting across from them. A few minutes later dinner magically appeared on the table and the three of them filled their plates and started eating.

"So Hermione," Harry put his fork down, "Did you enjoy playing chess with Ron?"

"It was okay. I don't see how you can play it so often. It's a little boring. And it's really confusing. How long did it actually take you to learn how to play anyway?"

Harry wasn't paying too much attention to Hermione's response. He was busy trying to ward of an impending sneeze. Knowing it was a losing battle, Harry grabbed his napkin and as he turned away from the table, he brought it up to his face and gave a soft stifled sneeze. "Cchhhh."

Hermione looked at Harry waiting for his answer and saw him wrap his robes around him tighter as a shiver racked through his body. "Harry, are you alright?" she asked getting concerned.

"Yeah. I'm just still cold from quidditch practice this afternoon." He rubbed unconsciously at his nose. "It's no big deal."

Ron decided to get in on the conversation as well after hearing Harry sneeze. "Harry, you do look a little pale."

Harry looked at his two best friends. "I'm fine. Stop worrying. Let's finish dinner."

They finished dinner without any more mention of Harry's health. Since the weather outside turned even colder then earlier in the day, Ron decided that they should go to the common room instead of visiting Hagrid like they always did after dinner on Saturday nights.

After entering the common room, Ron turned to Harry. "Do you want to play a game of wizards chess to show Hermione how the game should be played?"

"Sure." Harry walked over to the table closest to the fireplace. "Why don't you go up to the room and get the pieces. I'll move the chairs and table and wait for you down here."

"Okay, I'll be right down." Ron ran up to get the game.

"Harry, honestly, I'd rather not watch you two play chess. If you don't mind, I'll go get one of my books and read while you two play."

"That's fine Hermione." Harry watched as Hermione walk away and saw Ron coming with the chess board and pieces. "Hermione would rather read so she went up to get her book."

"Ok." Ron set up the pieces and they started playing. Hermione came down a few minutes later with two books to keep her occupied.

About fifteen minutes into the game, Harry started to feel really sleepy and wasn't paying attention to the game. After an extremely long delay, Ron looked up to Harry. "You're move."

"Oh, sorry," he said, and then coughed. He looked at the board trying to decide his next move. "Hmmm. Knight to H3." The knight moved to the space and knocked Ron's piece off the square, breaking it into five pieces. "Ha, thought you could fool me."

As Ron took his turn, Harry felt a sneeze coming. He really didn't want to sneeze again. He didn't need his friends to know he was getting sick. Having no choice but to sneeze, he lifted his arm and sneezed into his elbow, away from the table and Hermione, as quietly as he could. "Heh…chhhh!"

Hermione heard Harry's sneeze and looked up from her book. "Bless you. Are you sure you're feeling alright Harry?"

"Thanks," Harry said as he rubbed his nose. A few seconds later, he sneezed into his elbow again. "Chhuh." He wiped his nose with the sleeve of his robes and gave a sniff. "I'm fine, Hermione."

In actuality, Harry wasn't fine. He just couldn't admit it. While living with the Dursley's, no one in the house was to ever know if he was sick. Whenever he had a cold, he was to stay in his cupboard under the stairs until it was over. If and when he did come out when he was sick, he was to pretend he felt fine and show no symptoms.

"It's nothing," Harry said, his voice deep with congestion. It really was something however. His throat hurt him, so bad in fact, that he hated having to swallow. And it felt like his head would explode at any minute. Not to mention the congestion he could feel growing along with being extremely tired and cold.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other with concern when Harry gave a strong shiver. They weren't buying Harry's lie. After locking eyes and silently agreeing that it was something, Ron started to put away the chess game. "Harry, since you're not…"

Harry quickly cut off Ron. "Ron," he said, raising his voice from being irritable because he was not feeling well, "How many times do I have to tell you? I'm fine."

Ron looked at Harry with his mouth open in shock and gasped. He'd never heard Harry talk in that tone before.

At Ron's gasp, Harry looked up. "I'm sorry Ron," he said apologetically, not believing the way he was acting. He gave a small yawn behind his hand. "It's just…I'm not…" He sighed, not wanting to discuss it. "Forget it. I'm sorry." He quickly got up from the table and ran up the stairs to his bed.

After getting into the warmest pajamas he could find, which weren't very warm, he grabbed a box of tissues, hopped on his bed and drew the curtains closed. He sat back against the headboard with his arms wrapped around his knees. He sniffed and rubbed at his nose. He couldn't believe the way he acted towards his friends downstairs. He just hoped they would still want to be his friends now.

Harry let out a sigh and quickly grabbed a tissue from the box next to him. "Heh…hehCCHHH," a pause, then another "Heh-Chhh." He gave a sniff and blew his nose. With his cold seeming to get worse by the hour and his constant shivering, he knew that he should just try to get some sleep to help him feel better.

Yawning, he pulled back the blankets on his bed and burrowed under the covers, pulling them up to his face. He laid his pounding head down on his pillow and groaned. It felt so good to finally be lying down. Harry closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

Downstairs Ron and Hermione were talking about Harry. They decided it best to not go after him…to wait a while and see if he ever came back down before it was time for bed. After four hours, Hermione and Ron went to bed with not a sign of Harry.

Ron quietly made his way up to the dorm room. When he got to his bed, next to Harry's, he saw that Harry had pulled his curtains closed. He dropped the chess game into his trunk and went to take a shower and change in to his pajamas.

The sound of Ron getting his things for his shower made Harry groan. He was just beginning to fall asleep. The pressure from his groan made his nose tickle like mad. With no time to get any tissues, Harry cupped his hands around his nose and mouth and sneezed. "CCHHhhh, cchhhh, hehCHuh" Harry grabbed a few tissues and blew his nose. He fell back against his pillow and started coughing.

After finishing his shower, Ron went back to his bed. He was just about to get in, when he heard Harry sneeze a few times and then start coughing. Ron could definitely tell Harry had come down with a cold. And from the sound of it, it was pretty bad.

Harry hoped Ron would go straight to bed. He didn't want to talk to anyone, not with the way he was feeling. He was just about to try and go to sleep again, but the minute he put his head down, he started coughing and couldn't stop.

A few seconds later, the curtains on the side of his bed were drawn apart. Harry looked over and saw Ron standing there with a cup of water.

"Here," Ron said, handing the water to Harry.

Harry took the cup and took a few sips until the coughing subsided. "Thanks Ron."

"You're welcome." Ron took the cup and filled it back up with water. He set it down on the table between their beds and took a seat on his own bed. He kept looking from his hands in his lap up to Harry, then back down to his hands. "Harry, I know you don't want to hear this again, but are you sure you're alright?" Not hearing an answer, he looked up at Harry.

Harry had tissues pressed against his face and was taking a few hitching breaths. "heh… heh… hehCCHH, CCHH. Hehcheh, heh… hehkchoo!"

"Bless you mate. You know, you really don't sound good at all."

"Yeah, I know," he replied, warn out completely. He gave a yawn and sneezed once more. He looked at Ron with tired, red-rimmed eyes. "Go back to bed Ron. I can take care of myself."

Harry was just about to close his curtains when Ron stopped him and sat down on his bed, moving the tissue box to the table next to the cup of water. "Harry, I know you can take care of yourself, but you don't have to."

"Yes I do." He rubbed at his nose. Feeling an oncoming sneeze, he turned away from Ron, and brought his arm up to his nose. "Hehkchoo!" Harry sniffed and turned onto his side, back facing Ron. "Goodnight Ron."

Ron slowly got off of Harry's bed with a frown. He walked to his bed and was just about to get in it when he heard Harry sneezing again. He grabbed the box of tissues from the table and walked around to the side of the bed Harry was facing. With Harry still sneezing, and without a word to him, Ron dropped the tissue box in front of him and went back to bed.

Grateful for the tissues, Harry took a handful and blew his nose. He was just about to say something to Ron, when he started sneezing again. "Heh… hehCHHH, hehKCHHH" Not wanting to turn around and face Ron, he stayed with his back to him, "Ron, I…I guess I'm not used to having anyone else care about me or want to be sure I'm okay."

"That's okay. I understand. Just remember, that's what friends are for."

Harry rolled over and gave Ron a smile. "I'll try to remember that."

With a yawn, Ron laid down in his bed. "You better. If you ever need anything, let Hermione and I know. We want you to get better quick." Ron yawned again.

With one last sneeze, Harry sank down under his pile of blankets. "Thank you Ron."

The only reply he got from Ron, were his snores. He smiled, closed his eyes and fell asleep, knowing that he now didn't have to take care of himself anymore. He had friends that could help him.


End file.
